The company’s diverse staff is able to answer questions outside the realm of loan origination, according to Damon Richardson, HomeStyle program specialist at AFR. “We have staff members with backgrounds in construction that can read between the lines," he said "We know what questions to ask in the beginning versus at the end.”

Richardson added that having former contractors on staff enables AFR to have a clearer understanding of what happens during home renovations. “We have a knowledgeable staff that can pick up the phone, talk to a contractor and say, ‘no you’re not building this for this price,’ or ‘that doesn’t make sense.”

He recommended mortgage professionals have a contingency budget set in place for borrowers for issues they may ran into during the home improvement process. “We make sure borrowers have all the money they are going to need, so going forward if they have an unforeseen issue, it’s taken care of.”

Time also plays a part in the 203k loan. Work needs to begin within 30 days of closing and completed within a three-month time period. “When we do a 203k renovation loan, we are handling the entire process inside within a specific period of time,” said David Margulies, executive vice president of global sales at AFR. “It’s very hard to control a third-party and when you have time constraints it’s best to do everything in-house.”